John Ratomski World War II US Navy Seabee and New York City Cop ~ HEROES IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

John Ratomski World War II US Navy Seabee and New York City Cop ~ HEROES IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy – Dec. 2020 Retired New York City Police Officer, John Joseph Ratomski, tried to enlist in the Marine Corps the year after Pearl Harbor, in December of 1942. Joe, as he was known to his friends, was found to be color blind, and the Marines rejected him for this reason. The US […]

Technician 3rd Grade Donald Gelineau 285th Ordinance Co. U.S. Army ~ VALLEY PATRIOT of the MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

Technician 3rd Grade Donald Gelineau 285th Ordinance Co. U.S. Army ~ VALLEY PATRIOT of the MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

By: John Cuddy – November, 2020 LOWELL – A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Donald Gelineau served in the Pacific Theater during World War II for twenty-four months. Growing up in a large French-Canadian family during the Great Depression, he hunted, fished and gathered nuts/fruits to supplement the family’s food. Don reminisces of his time as […]

Robert Lucas: Boston Braves, Korean War, Chappaquiddick ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HEROS IN OUR MIDST

Robert Lucas: Boston Braves, Korean War, Chappaquiddick ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HEROS IN OUR MIDST

By: John Cuddy – Oct. 2020 Braintree, Massachusetts native, Robert Lucas, led a very interesting life, from pitching for the Boston Braves Farm system, to serving during the Korean conflict in the US Army infantry, to being on duty as a State Trooper on Martha’s Vineyard on the night of “Chappaquiddick”! Bob was selected as […]

Witness at Nuremberg! PFC Joseph Alfred Ducharme US Army Air Corp ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

Witness at Nuremberg! PFC Joseph Alfred Ducharme US Army Air Corp ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy – Sept. 2020 PELHAM, NH – An alumnus of Methuen’s Tenney Memorial High, Class of 1945, where he played football and ran track, Joseph Ducharme is a lifelong Pelham, New Hampshire resident. Back in the 1940s, Pelham, New Hampshire was too small for a high school, so the town sent the children […]

US Navy Seabee Kevin Donahue ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH (Aug, 2020)

US Navy Seabee Kevin Donahue ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH (Aug, 2020)

Help The Valley Patriot Stay in Business Your Donation of ANY Amount helps  By: John Cuddy – Aug, 2020 LAWRENCE – Greater Lawrence Technical School graduate and Lawrence native, Kevin Donahue, and I recently had dinner at Methuen’s Muddy Waters Restaurant. We had a fantastic meal, and the Donahue family really enjoyed the beer, pizza, […]

HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH ~ Dracut’s Alfred Araskiewicz: Paratrooper and Glider – 82nd Airborne

HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH ~ Dracut’s Alfred Araskiewicz: Paratrooper and Glider – 82nd Airborne

By: John Cuddy – July, 2020 DRACUT – Born April 19, 1927, the youngest son of Polish immigrants, Dracut’s Alfred Araskiewicz was introduced to me by a fellow Scout leader, his neighbor, Paul Taylor. He graduated from Dracut High School with the Class of 1944. My first interview was with his granddaughter, Jennifer Phillips. She […]

William McCann: U.S. Army Veteran ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH – HERO IN OUR MIDST

William McCann: U.S. Army Veteran ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH – HERO IN OUR MIDST

From Woodstock to Vietnam By: John Cuddy – June, 2020 Bill McCann was born in 1950 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He grew up in the Tower Hill Section of the city. Bill attended Lawrence High School and transferred to North Andover High School for his Senior Year. He graduated in June 1969 and applied to attend […]

Tony Marino, US Navy Pacific Theater – World War II – VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

Tony Marino, US Navy Pacific Theater – World War II  – VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

By: John Cuddy – April, 2020 PELHAM, NH, New Hampshire’s Tony Marino grew up in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He was an athlete at Chelsea High, graduating with the class of 1940. His wife, Loretta, graduated from the same school with the class of 1944. Tony was attending a family wedding with his mother when the news […]

HEROES IN OUR MIDST – Don Silba, Joseph Augusta, Joe DiZoglio, and the Vets at the Lawrence DAV!

HEROES IN OUR MIDST – Don Silba, Joseph Augusta, Joe DiZoglio, and the Vets at the Lawrence DAV!

Heroes Still Serving By: John Cuddy Meeting Don Silba, Joseph Augusta, Jim Moran, Joe DiZoglio, and the other US Military Veteran members of the Queen City Chapter 2’s Service Center at the Lawrence Disabled American Veterans was an eye-opening experience. I stopped by their Lawrence Office at 112A East Haverhill Street, in Lawrence’s Prospect Hill […]

Major Ronald Santagati, US Air Force: Korean and Vietnam Wars ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

Major Ronald Santagati, US Air Force: Korean and Vietnam Wars ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH, HERO IN OUR MIDST

By: John Cuddy – Feb. 2020 Raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Ronald Santagati is now living in Salem, New Hampshire with his wife (and high school sweetheart) Joan, to whom he has been married to for nearly sixty-five years. During our Saturday morning meeting over coffee and Tripoli cookies in his kitchen, we started with a […]

Disgracing the Memory of Hero Veteran John Ratka: Where is VNOC One Year After His Passing?

Disgracing the Memory of Hero Veteran John Ratka: Where is VNOC One Year After His Passing?

  It’s been over a year since Command Master Chief John Ratka passed away. John was the Executive Director of Veterans Northeast Outreach Center (VNOC) in Haverhill and winner of The Valley Patriot’s Hero Veteran Award for his tireless work helping homeless veterans get off the streets. John was appointed Executive Director in the late […]

VALLEY PATRIOT of the MONTH ~ Fr. James Broderick – 39 Bombing Missions Over Nazi Germany in a B24 Liberator

VALLEY PATRIOT of the MONTH ~ Fr. James Broderick – 39 Bombing Missions Over Nazi Germany in a B24 Liberator

By: John Cuddy – January, 2020 Originally hailing from Gloucester, Massachusetts, Fr. James Broderick is now a Catholic priest living in retirement at the Archdiocese of Boston’s Regina Cleri Home for Retired Priests. After graduating from Saint Ann’s High in Gloucester, with the Class of 1943, he joined the US Army Air Corp. Father Broderick […]

U.S. Navy Chief Quartermaster Marshall Rogers Sr. ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

U.S. Navy Chief Quartermaster Marshall Rogers Sr. ~ HERO IN OUR MIDST, VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy – December, 2019 Marshall Rogers Sr. was born in 1921 on his family dairy farm in North Andover, MA. He was the second youngest of nine children. He claims to have walked over 3,000 miles as a child while going to school in North Andover making two round trips per day, going […]

VALLEY PATRIOT of the MONTH ~ Gerard Boucher US Marine Corp-Retired; Still Serving Brother & Sister Veterans!

VALLEY PATRIOT of the MONTH ~ Gerard Boucher US Marine Corp-Retired; Still Serving Brother & Sister Veterans!

By: John Cuddy – November, 2019 Haverhill’s Gerard Boucher joined the US Marine Corp to avoid getting drafted by the US Army. On the wall of his home sits a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, so he certainly picked an unusual way to avoid the draft. Talking to Gerard and his close friend Carolyn […]

Pat Walor of the 9th Infantry! Dairy Farmer, WW II Infantryman, American Hero! ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

Pat Walor of the 9th Infantry! Dairy Farmer, WW II Infantryman, American Hero!   ~ VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH

By: John Cuddy -Oct.2019 Dracut’s Pat Walor was born on his family’s farm in Peabody, Massachusetts in 1923 – the second youngest of eleven children. His father was a dirt farmer (Pat’s own description of a vegetable farmer). He recalls his weekly trips into Faneuil Hall in Boston to sell their vegetables on commission. A […]